Page 89 of Love for a Lifetime

Dawson crept out of a deep sleep only to sink back in. Everything was warm and cozy–perfect conditions for sleeping.

Three knocks from somewhere nearby had his brow furrowing. Not ready to adult today, thank you.

Something moved against him, and he tightened his hold.

Louder knocks jerked him out of the slumber, and his eyes flew open. The dawn light was faint in the forest, shining into the cab of his truck as he blinked back the remnants of sleep.

Olivia shifted in his arms, and the events of the night came back to him. Camping, wolves, Olivia.

Olivia.

“Dude!”

Dawson tightened his hold on Olivia and met Beau’s accusing stare out the window.

Uh-oh.

Beau threw his hands in the air, clearly irritated.

Dawson pressed the button to lower the window, but it didn’t budge.

Oh yeah. Dead battery. He held up a finger to Beau and tried to shift Olivia’s back away from the door.

She lifted her head and wiped at her eye.

“Good morning, my queen.”

“Morning,” she whispered.

“Your brother is here, and he wants an explanation.”

Her head popped up at that. “What?” She turned around in Dawson’s lap to find Beau waiting with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Shoot. What time is it?” she asked.

“Time for a reckoning.”

Olivia opened the door and didn’t bother to smile at her brother. “Hey.”

“You decide to have a party for two?” Beau asked, looking back and forth between Dawson and Olivia.

Dawson kept an arm around Olivia’s waist, hoping she’d relax. “Where to start?”

“We got trapped by wolves,” Olivia said. Her ponytail was hanging to one side, and she had red marks on her face from sleeping against him.

Beau made a show of looking left then right before facing his sister again. “Wolves?”

“Yeah. We came back to the truck to get my medicine, and there was a pack of wolves.”

“And my truck battery is dead. Any chance I could get a jump?” Dawson asked.

Beau shook his head and headed back toward his truck. Two mattresses wrapped in plastic rested in the truck bed.

Olivia pressed her hands to the sides of her head. “I can’t believe he saw us cuddling.”

“I know. It’s awful,” Dawson said with all the sarcasm he could muster.

“I mean, we haven’t even figured out what this is yet, and he’s going to think things.” She gestured with both hands to where Beau had been standing.

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